This book is the first clear-eyed assessment of the explosive situation
unfolding in India’s North East. While ethnic insurgency in North East India,
its "little wars", have been around ever since India’s independence, there is
now the menacing new phenomenon of Islamist terrorism developing in the region.

The state of Assam in North East India not only has a sizeable Muslim
population, but also a long and porous border with Bangladesh, factors which
help Islamist insurgency. Indeed, a majority of the population of four
geo-strategically positioned districts of Assam is now Muslim — reportedly a
consequence of the illegal migration from Bangladesh. Recent reports have also
indicated that the ISI and the DGFI are encouraging the illegal influx with an
eye to carving out a Brihot Bangladesh (Greater Bangladesh) in the region. The
Islamist militant movements in the region find an organized parish in this
illegal migrant population whose ideology and socio-religious commitment
continue to be informed by experiences from across India’s borders. The problem
has grown in magnitude as a result of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
jettisoning its original ideals. This most prominent ethnic separatist movement
in Assam has now become a willing hostage of the ISI and the events and factors
which are in play in Bangladesh and in the neighbourhood.

This meticulously researched book provides both a timely warning and original
insights into the linkages between Islamic militancy and the broader issues of
security in North East India. It is an unfolding crisis to which New Delhi has
yet to awake.

Reviews

“Essential reading for anyone who is concerned about India’s volatile North East and the increasingly unstable Bangladesh.”—Bertil Lintner, Far Eastern Economic Review

“Saikia’s razor-sharp analysis has led us to wage the war against terror more decisively. With Terror Sans Frontiers, Jaideep Saikia has emerged as the most important security expert in the region.”—G. M. Srivastava, Director General of Police, Tripura

“A fascinating study of the nexus between Islamic militancy and the demographic challenges in India’s North East. Jaideep Saikia is a superb observer of the realities in Assam. All those who wish to understand similar developments in Europe and the Middle East should read this book.”—Yossi Shain, Head of the School of Government, Tel Aviv University,

Jaideep Saikia — acknowledged as one of India’s best-informed analysts on the security challenges in the North East — has an important story to tell. It is a story not fully appreciated in New Delhi, let alone beyond Indian shores. This book fills the void.”—Robert M. Hathaway, Director, Asia Program

“By highlighting the activities of (Islamic) fundamentalist elements in the North East, Jaideep has done well to focus attention to the grave threat it poses to our national security.”—Lt Gen (Retd) S. K. Sinha, Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and former Governor of Assam

“One of the most important books on the question of insurgency yet to appear. While some of Jaideep Saikia’s conclusions may be controversial, there is no doubt that this book must be consulted by anyone seeking a fuller picture of the problems of revolutionary war and separatism in India’s North East.”—Stephen Philip Cohen, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA

Jaideep Saikia

Jaideep Saikia is a security analyst with over two dozen published and
presented academic papers on security and strategy and the author of the book,
Contours: Essays on Security and Strategy which received excellent reviews in
the media. He has also published a collection of his poems, Lyrics from the
Amygdala and is co-editor of the book, Development Challenges in India: Assam in
the 21st Century. The present book, grew out of his research as an ACDIS-Ford
fellow in the Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security program at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Born in 1966, Jaideep Saikia had his education at the Rashtriya Indian Military
College, Dehra Dun and at St Stephen's College, University of Delhi. He has
travelled widely in USA, Europe and in South and South East Asia on academic
assignments. He travelled to Pakistan as the guest of President Gen Zia-ul-Haq
in 1988. Earlier, he travelled to Kashmir and studied the security situation on
a fellowship from the National Foundation for India, New Delhi and to Sri Lanka
on a Regional Centre for Strategic Studies fellowship. He visited the People's
Republic of China where he lectured and interacted with the top think tanks and
universities of Beijing, Fudan and Zhejiang. He was also an "International
Visitor" to USA to study "International Crime Issues & Global Cooperation" on
the invitation of the US Department of State. Saikia was part of an
international expert group for a mandated agency of the United Nations in its
project "Devious Objectives and Spoilers in Peace Processes." He examined the
thesis with an eye to Kashmir.

Jaideep Saikia lives in Guwahati and is presently working on a book on the ULFA.